MONTREAL - Max Pacioretty broke out of a slump with a natural hat trick in the second period and the Montreal Canadiens skated to a 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

Michael Bournival, Daniel Briere and Alex Galchenyuk also scored for the Canadiens, who had only 18 goals in their previous 11 games.

Nino Niederreiter and Dany Heatley scored for the Wild, who had won four straight and were 7-0-1 in their past eight games since a 5-1 loss to Chicago on Oct. 28. Minnesota plays Wednesday night in Ottawa.

Wild starter Josh Harding, one of the NHL's three stars for his three wins last week, was pulled in the second period for Darcy Kuemper after allowing three goals on 19 shots. Harding has given up three goals only twice this season, both times to Montreal.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)